Heart of the Cards
by Samzulrich
Summary: The adventures of immensely skilled but young duelist named Jean as she makes new friends, battles new enemies, and meets some familiar faces.
1. Chapter 1

"It was a good duel, Daniel." Jean said with an innocent smirk. Daniel's face was sullen. If he had just drawn the right card he could have won the duel. He voiced this point repeatedly.

"The game is about luck, yes, but it also is about using your card combinations efficiently. Having faith in the Heart of the Cards helps, too." She grinned.

"That nonsense?" Daniel gave Jean a disheveled look.

"It isn't just about having blind faith; it's also about knowing your Deck inside and out, or by Heart. And by the way, it isn't nonsense. How do you think Yugi Mutou won all of his duels?" She preached, but Daniel turned a deaf ear.

"He has like the rarest cards in the world. Him and Seto Kaiba."

"Rare cards don't matter. Even the rarest of cards can be beaten with the best of strategies. Didn't you learn anything from Joey?"

"I guess you're right. I just get frustrated when I lose." He admitted. "But tell me… how did you get so good at Duel Monsters?"

Jean winked. "We both have our teachers!" She said.

The bell rang and they both cleaned up their cards. Daniel had work after school, so he went straight home to change into his uniform. Jean was walking home when she heard a girl's scream. It came from a back alleyway, which Jean came running towards.

It was a girl in Jean's class. She was bent over, crying. There were hologram projectors perched on the wall like bats, ready to echolocate monsters out of its mouth.

A man wearing the most realistic Dracula costume ever was looking through what Jean assumed was the girl's deck, picking out cards he liked and stowing them in his pockets.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" She called out.

"What does it look like? I'm taking my prize from beating this bitch fair and square in a duel." He answered. When he opened his mouth, Jean saw that he was wearing fake fangs.

"Fair and square? Give me a break! You have cards stashed in the sleeves of your shirt!" The girl shouted, getting to her feet. Her face was red with rage and tears flowed down her face.

"I did no such thing! You'd better shut your mouth before I take more than just your cards!" The man pointed at the girl as he said this, which the girl swatted aside as if it were something filthy attacking her. "Oh you little-"

"I'll duel you for the cards." Jean interrupted. The man was taken aback.

"That's fine with me." He said. "Two decks in one day is more than I usually get."

"At least tell me your name." Jean said.

"Byron. The vampire. My life-point sucking strategies will leave you shriveled and shrunken in defeat!"

"Not you." Jean said, her lips pouting.

"It's Ami."

"Can I borrow this Ami?" She asked, pointing to the Duel Disk. Ami nodded and handed it over. It was a snug fit, as if it was meant for Jean all along. Something about it just felt right.

She placed her deck in the slot, activated the disk, drew her five cards, and announced that she was ready to begin the duel.

"I'm feeling merciful today so I'll let you go first." She said with the corners of her lips curled into an arrogant smile.

"You'll regret crossing me, girl!" He said, drawing his own five cards, and the one for his turn. He took a moment to look over his hand before making his move.

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Mode!" The hologram projectors kicked to life, and Gearfreid was spawn into existence. He held his weapons at the ready. With 2000 Attack points, he wasn't a bad first monster to summon. "I'll also lay two cards face down. Your turn."

"Nice moves." She looked over her own hand.

"I'll summon Kuriboh in defense position and lay 1 card face-down." She did, much to Byron's amusement.

"Kuriboh? That little thing is so weak! The only good thing about it is its effect, and you wasted that by summoning it!" He ranted and raved.

"Shut up and take your turn." Jean snapped. Byron drew his card.

"I activate Just Desserts! It takes 500 of your life points away!" The monkey reached its arm right out of the card and slashed at Jean, who did not even flinch. It was just a hologram, after all. There was nothing to be scared about. It's not like it was a Shadow Game.

Jean: 8000 7500

"Then I'll have my Gearfreid attack your Kuriboh!"

The metal man swung his sword down on the fuzz ball, cleaving him in two and sending him to the graveyard.

"What a useless little dust bunny. I'll lay one card face down and end my turn. And please, make this a challenge at least." He laughed.

"You want a challenge, I'll give you one!" She summoned Roulette Barrel in Defense mode. "I'm still feeling merciful, so I'll ignore Roulette Barrel's effect. Besides, we don't have any dice."

"The disk has a feature for that built-in." Ami said.

"Oh. Well, that's my turn."

"Time to crush that pathetic excuse for a defense. I sacrifice my Knight to summon my Magical Marionette!" The Marionette came forth, its puppets on their strings and its knives pointed at Jean's Barrel. "And I'll equip it with Fairy Meteor Crush, allowing me to deal battle damage against your defense-position monsters!"

"That won't do you much good. Your Marionette doesn't have enough attack points." Jean said.

"My Marionette gains attack points every time you play a spell card, and any monsters you play that are too weak will end up only hurting you in return. I've limited you to only your Barrel and Trap Cards with just two cards!" He explained, following it up with a fit of laughter.

"I'll let you have that handicap, then. But don't get too cocky cause that just might still be enough to beat you."

"Not if I do this! I activate my Gift of the Magical Elf, increasing my life points by 300 per monster on the field! That's 600 points!"

"Hehehe." Jean laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" He cried angrily.

"Check the score."

Byron: 8000 7400

"My life points… they're falling?"

"I activated my Bad Reaction to Simochi, reversing your increase. Plus, the card is continuous, so you can't increase your life points anymore. And if my hunch is right, most of your strategies revolve around just that."

Byron ended his turn without a word. Jean passed, as she was unable to do anything. Byron passed, too. They were both waiting for the right card to be drawn.

_Heart of the cards, don't fail me now!_ She thought as she drew the card. It was a risky maneuver, but if it worked it would give her the advantage. And she would have the Heart of the Cards to thank for the card she just drew being the lynchpin in this plan.

"I summon Sonic Bird!" She said as she summoned the winged monster with a goofy-looking jet-pack.

"Are you slow? My Marionette will destroy that bird and take a nice delicious chunk out of your life points!"

"My turn isn't over yet. I play Two-Pronged Attack, sacrificing my Sonic Bird and my Roulette Barrel to take out your Marionette!" The three monsters shattered into glass, and were monsters no more. Behind the falling shards Byron saw nothing but Jean's smile, and her shining eyes.

"And now that I'm free to play spell cards I think I'll play Factory of Mass Production, which allows me to move two monster cards from the graveyard to my hand." She chose Kuriboh and Roulette Barrel. And thanks to Sonic Birds effect, she was allowed to put a Ritual Summon card in her hand. "I think that about does it. I didn't take any life points this turn, but it'll do for now."

Ami reveled in amazement. With one card she made this duel do a complete 180.

Byron now wore a snarl on his face. He drew his card.

"I'll make you eat those words as I play Dark Snake Syndrome!" Dark shadowy arms reached out from the walls of the alley and wrapped themselves around Jean.

Jean: 7500 7300

"The damage starts out at 200 but doubles every turn. Pretty soon that damage will be hefty, and you won't be able to keep up!" Byron laughed.

"I'll just have to beat you before my life points run out." She said simply as she drew her card.

"I'll summon Roulette Barrel in Attack mode and attack your Life Points directly!" She commanded. But Byron's life points didn't change.

"I activate Waboku, bringing the damage to 0!" Jena clenched her teeth. It was Byron's turn now. Hopefully he wouldn't be able to take more chunks out of her life points.

"I'll play Ominous Fortune Telling! Thus card allows me to pick a card out of your hand once per turn and guess what type it is. If I guess right, you take 700 points of damage. I'll pick the middle card and declare it as a trap!" He was right. Crap.

Jean: 7300 6600

"There's nothing more I can do so I'll end my turn here."

Jean drew her card.

Jean: 6600 6200

And took damage from Byron's trap card.

"I'll summon Pixie Knight in defense mode and have my Barrel attack your life points directly!"

Byron: 7400 6400

It was Byron's turn then.

"Again I can't do anything. But I'll pick the far right card and call it a monster card."

"You're wrong."

"Then my turn is over." He shrugged. "It seems we're at a stalemate here."

"Not for long." Jean replied.

Jean: 6200 5400

"You say that but your Life Points are running out rather quickly."

"Shut up. I'll lay one monster in face-down defense position and equip my Barrel with Megamorph, doubling its attack. Then I'll attack you directly again!"

Byron: 6400 4400

"It won't make much of a difference." He said, drawing his card. "I'll activate my Shadow Spell! This will make it so that your barrel can no longer attack, and even lowers its attack points by 700! With that I'll end my turn."

"You're just trying to run out the clock."

"You got me."

Jean: 5400 3800

It was time to put that Ritual card to good use.

"Since you've crippled my Barrel I think I'll have to trade up. I play Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing my three monsters to summon… Black Luster Soldier!" The warrior emerged with a battle cry. His sword looked eager to collide with others of its kind in battle.

"Now, attack his Life Points directly!" She bellowed as the soldier drove his blade right through the fou-vampire's torso.

Byron: 4400 1400

"Let's see you come back from that!" Jean smirked. Ami once again was shocked by Jean's skill and luck. And by her confidence. Not once did she seem afraid of failure, and not once did she let herself become unnerved despite how badly she had been losing. It was something Ami admired in this girl. And that card… didn't the Black Luster Soldier belong to…

"I'll summon Cure Mermaid in defense mode and take my guess that the second card from the right is a trap card." He guessed wrong. "I end my turn."

Jean: 3800 600

_This is it. If I don't draw the right card here, I'll lose by the time it's my turn again. Heart of the Cards… Heart of the Cards…_

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths with her hand resting on the top of her deck.

It had been one year ago. Yugi Mutou had organized a tournament with the help of Seto Kaiba, whose company had long since bought Industrial Illusions. The winner of the tournament would receive a lump sum of cash and two rare cards.

She had dueled a man named Jaden. He had many cards that went by the name of Elemental Hero. He had given Jean a run for her money, and she had beaten him with her Dice Jar, rolling a six and winning out of pure luck. As a show of good faith, he had given her the Kuriboh card.

Jean went on to win the tournament and those two rare cards, which turned out to be Yugi's own Black Luster Soldier, along with the ritual needed to summon it. Not too shabby of a reward. She had turned down the cash prize, telling the tournament officials to give it to charity.

With that fond memory bolstering her faith in her cards, she drew.

"I play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two!" The first card was a Metal Scorpion. No help there. The second card was another Trap Master. But the third card was just what she needed.

"I'll play Magic Jammer, allowing me to discard 1 card in order to destroy your Black Snake Syndrome. I just saved what was left of my life points. Then I'll summon Moryokutai and have it attack your mermaid, destroying it." The mermaid squealed in pain as the skull bit into its neck. "And now my Soldier will attack your points once more!" His sword came down upon Byron, who yelled as if he was actually stabbed.

Byron: 1400 0

His cards dropped out of his hands and scattered around him and he collapsed to his knees. Black Luster Soldier sheathed his blade before dispersing. The bat-like projectors returned to the old-school Duel Disk. Jean approached the defeated man.

"You spend so much time on your own strategies that you ignore you opponent's. You're nothing more than a power-hungry fool." She told him.

He looked up at her, his eyes burning with fury, his breathing rapid and shallow, and his cheeks turning red. He reached inside of his coat for something, but Jean brought her leg to the side of his head, knocking him to the floor.

"I can't banish you to the shadow realm, nor can I hurt you anymore than I already have." She said as she tucked the pocketknife into her back pocket. "I could call the police but I have something better in mind." She searched the man's coat and found Ami's deck. She pocketed it before gathering up all of Byron's cards back into a deck.

"I'm going to take these cards from you. Someone who uses them for something like this doesn't deserve them. And think of this as a little Poetic Justice. You go around taking what doesn't belong to you, and now you're going to have something stolen from you in return. Hehehe." She said. "Well what are you still doing here? Get out of my sight!" She ordered. Byron ran away and was gone before Jean could even blink. That kick was Mantis-style kung fu and without a weapon Byron knew he stood no chance. But he wouldn't let this defeat slide. He'd be back and Jean knew it. He was just another corrupt duelist out for revenge against her. It was nothing new. Ever since…

"You're the Luster Tournament winner, right? Jean Wheeler!" Ami asked. She did not wait for a reply and instead went on a fangirl-fueled rant. "I knew you kinda looked like her but I never thought you'd BE her! Who'd have thought a champion was in our class! I'm gonna have to tell everyone! Imagine how popular you'd be!"

"No, don't tell anyone. The less people that want to duel me the better."

"Why would you want that? Don't you love dueling?" Ami asked. It was a good question.

"Of course I do. But you win one tournament and suddenly dueling stops being about having fun and becomes defending some meaningless title from the parasitic hordes of amateurs and scum like that guy." She motioned behind her, which was the direction that Byron had run off to.

"I get it. I won't tell anyone then. But promise me one thing: That you'll teach me to be as good as you at Duel Monsters!" She didn't wait for a reply for the second time. "Imagine how much better I'll get! Studying under Joey Wheeler's daughter!"

"He's my uncle." Jean replied. It was true, she was Serenity's daughter. Ami enveloped her in a best friends forever hug and started bouncing up and down right as Jean was about to hand the girl her deck. The deck fanned out in her hand as she gripped the cards, and she got a good look at most of the deck. It seemed to contain almost no effect monsters, very few trap cards, and the rest was an even mix of regular monsters and spell cards. The majority of the spell cards were equip cards anyway.

Ami finally stopped, and Jean handed the easily excitable girl her cards. She handed her Byron's deck too.

"Your deck needs work. Pick your most powerful cards from your own deck and put them into this one. See if that helps." She offered those words of advice before beginning to depart. Ami began to walk beside her while humming.

"What are you doing?" Jean stopped walking. Ami took a few steps before realizing that Jean had both said something and had stopped walking.

"What?" She said stupidly.

"You're following me. Why?"

"I thought you were going to teach me more. So I was going with you." Jean thought about this for a while. This could be a great opportunity to breed a duelist who could actually challenge her.

"I guess. Just be nice to my mom. Her eyes are going early." Ami nodded in response.

"Oh and you can have that Duel Disk. I'll have my dad buy me a new one."

"You sure? It's a really old model, which means it must hold some sentimental value for you."

"It's okay. It's something I needed to get rid of for a while now anyway…" She said. Her name was Ami Kaiba, daughter of Mokuba Kaiba. She was Jean's new student, and her new friend.


	2. Chapter 2

"Your deck looks a lot better, Ami. It just needs some finishing touches and you'll be ready to take on the pros!" Jean said as she skimped through the stack of cards in her hand. "Here, I'll give you one of my best cards."

She handed Ami her cards back, and added in a Dark Magician.

"Are you sure? That's a pretty rare card! I couldn't accept something this valuable." She protested.

"Trust me, it'll come in handy. Besides, I have something better than Dark Magician." She winked and flashed her Black Luster Soldier.

They walked home together after that. On the way Ami asked questions about Duel Monsters and Jean was more than eager to answer them.

"Hey, hey! Look! A new Tournament! Ooooh I wanna join it! You should too Jean!" She exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the billboard.

"I could easily get in, but I doubt it'll be as simple for you. You don't have any experience as far as the tournament organizers are concerned." Jean explained. Ami looked sullen. "But there might be a way… If you can beat some really renowned and experienced duelists then they might take notice of you."

"Let's go register! I bet there'll be a ton of people I can duel there!" Ami jumped up and down in excitement.

There were dozens of duelists gathered outside the small card shop. Some were dueling, and most others who weren't waiting in line to register were watching.

Someone's Flame Swordsman equipped with Big Bang Shot destroyed a Kuriboh, winning the duel for him. Jean sighed and muttered about how much of an amateur they both were. They approached the entrance, but were stopped by two men with duel disks in weird clothes.

"Move." Jean said arrogantly. "We want to register."

"Is that any way to talk to someone who outranks you?" The one on the left grinned. It was Weevil Underwood, the Insect Duelist. That meant that his partner on the right there was Rex Raptor, the Dino Duelist. While it was true, Jean had only won one tournament and these two had won many, victories mattered little over skill.

"Yeah!" Rex chimed in. "Why don't you noobies just high-tail it out of here?"

"Are you trying to make me mad on purpose?" Jean glared. "I'll take you both on anytime anywhere."

"How about here and now, little girl?" Rex declared.

"I'll need a doubles partner. Ami?" Ami nodded. "We'll alternate turns, with life points split between the teams, meaning each player gets 4000. Are these terms agreeable?" Rex and Weevil said something cocky, which Jean took to mean yes.

"Duel!" They all cried.

"I'll go first." Jean said as she drew a card for her turn. "I'll play Convulsion of Nature. This card makes it so that your decks are flipped upside down for the rest of the duel."

"That's a weird card."Ami made an Excalibur face as she flipped her deck.

"I'll play Absorbing Kid from the Sky in defense mode and end my turn." Jean concluded.

"My turn!" Weevil drew his card. "I'll lay two cards face down and summon Fiend Scorpion in defense mode!"

"Playing it safe Weevil? That's not like you. Are you afraid of these two twerps?" Rex teased.

"Shut it, dino-breath!"

"Take your turn, Ami." Jean reminded her. She looked startled for a second, but somehow managed to pull it together and draw a card. She immediately looked off-put. Something was wrong.

"I'll lay one card facedown and play Dian Keto the Cure Master, increasing my life points by 1000." She declared.

Ami: 4000 5000

"Is that all?" Rex smirked as he drew his card. "I'll play Terraforming, allowing me to put one Field Spell Card in my hand from my deck. Then I'll play it. Wasteland! This card boosts the attack of all Dinosaurs by 200 points!" He laughed. "I summon Uraby and have it attack your Absorbing Kid!"

The Raptor munched on the pudgy little monster, sending it to the Graveyard.

"How did you like that?" Rex grinned.

"Is that all? You'd think that in all this time you guys would have improved more. I'm disappointed." Jean sighed as she drew her next card.

"I predict that this card will be your undoing. I summon the Unforgiving Maiden in defense mode!"

"Bragging and then only playing that? What a joke." Weevil made a tsk noise with his teeth as he realized the only thing he could do was the same thing, summoning a defense position monster. It ended up being Killer Needle.

It was Ami's turn next. Jean gave her the 'I believe in you' look.

"I play Chorus of Sancuary, boosting all defense position monsters on my side of the field by 500! Then I'll play Shadow Spell on your Uraby, lowering its Attack by 700 and disabling it." She declared. She was doing the best she could, even if that meant all she could do was play support.

"I'll play Hyper Hammerhead in defense mode and switch my Uraby to defense mode." He gritted his teeth at his frustration and helplessness.

"My turn." Jean smiled. "I'll play Just Desserts! Each of you takes 500 points of damage per monster, and I count 2 for each of you."

Weevil: 4000 3000

Rex: 4000 3000

"I'll summon Ooguchi in defense mode and end my turn." She crossed her arms impatiently as Weevil drew his card. He was looking increasingly flustered. All he did was play a monster facedown.

Ami ended up skipping her turn.

"I'll switch Uraby to attack mode and have it take out your Ooguchi! Don't want that bugger taking out any of my life points!" He declared.

"Just as I planned!" Jean announced as she drew a card for her turn. "First I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back my Absorbing Kid from the Sky, and I'll sacrifice him to summon Magical Marionette! Now attack Rex's Uraby!" The Marionette's puppets slashed the dinosaur with many sharp blades sending it to the graveyard in pieces.

Rex: 3000 2700

"Next, I'll play Factory of Mass Production, returning two monsters from my graveyard to my hand." She got her Ooguchi and Absorbing Kid back. "That's it for now."

"I'll just play another monster facedown." Weevil said. He was visibly shaking with anger.

The card Ami drew next confused her. She didn't really know how it worked, but thought that she might as well give it a shot.

"I'll play Change of Heart, stealing your Hyper Hammerhead. Then I'll play Black Illusion Ritual! This will sacrifice it in order to summon Relinquished!" The blue eyeball monster burst forth from inside the dinosaur like a parasite finally able to live on its own. Jean was shocked, to say the least. So was the crowd. An audible gasp came from almost everybody.

"You aren't the only one with a rare Ritual Monster!" She winked.

"I heard there was only one of those in the world, and it belonged to Maximillian Pegasus!"

"Well, Kaiba corp. did buy Industrial Illusions, so it makes sense that any cards Pegasus owned became ours. Besides, I stole this one from Uncle Seto!" She smiled. "Now I'll use its ability to steal your Fiend Scorpion, taking on its attack and defense. At least, I think that's how it works."

"You played a card and you don't even know how it works?" Jean scolded. "How many times have I told you already to know your cards?"

"Sorry!" She laughed. "At least now I know! Anyway, it's your turn Rex."

"Don't think a rare monster like that will scare me off! I'll play Mammoth Graveyard in defense mode!" Rex declared. He was faring much better than Weevil, despite having fewer life points.

"Magical Marionette, attack Weevil's left facedown monster!" Jean declared an attack, but Weevil activated his trap card.

"I activate A Feint Plan, making you unable to attack facedown cards for this turn! And now that it's my turn once again…." He drew his card. "I play Multiplication of Ants, sacrificing my Killer Needle to summon two Ant Tokens."

"That will buy you a nice bit of time Weevil. Such a cowardly tactic, though." Jean baited. She was egging him on purposefully to make him slip up.

"My turn isn't over yet noobie! I'll flip summon my two Man Eater Bugs! Their effect lets me destroy one monster on your field! And since I have two I'll go ahead and take care of your Relinquished and Magical Marionette!" The bugs chomped down on their respective victims, destroying the two best monsters Jean and Ami had on the field. "This means that Rex gets his Hammerhead back."

"Excellent move!" Rex complimented, giving his buddy a thumbs-up.

"I really need you to pull through for me, Ami. Trust in your Deck and it won't fail you." Jean offered.

"Okay." Ami drew a card without looking at it. When she did, a huge grin spread across her face. She jumped up and down. She was just ecstatic about everything wasn't she?

"I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back Jean's Marionette!" She paused and shook a little, as if she were a bomb ready to explode. Maybe this was her way of building up suspense.

"I play Soul Exchange, allowing me to steal one of your monsters for use in a Tribute Summon! So I'll sacrifice your Fiend Scorpion and my Marionette to summon Dark Magician! Destroy one of Weevil's Ant Tokens!" The magician came out of his card and spread his palm, executing his signature Dark Magic Attack, shattering the bug.

"I told you it would come in handy!" Jean smiled.

"I pass. Arrgh!" Rex grumbled miserably.

"I'll play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two. Then I'll play Hidden Book of Spell, allowing me to put one spell card in my graveyard into my hand. I'll play Graceful Charity yet again, and summon Sonic Bird in defense mode. Now Dark Magician, destroy another Ant Token!" The servant did as he was told. The bug was eradicated.

"My turn!" Weevil announced. A little bit of confidence was coming back. "I'll play Insect Imitation, allowing me to sacrifice Rex's Mammoth in order to summon an insect-type monster one star higher! I'll summon my Girochin Kuwagata in defense mode. This will beef up our defense for a turn."

"Still buying more time, Weevil? What card could you be hoping for?" Jean teased. "Your turn Ami."

"I'll play Just Desserts!" She cried, as if she had been ready to play it since this time last turn.

Weevil: 3000 1500

Rex: 2700 2200

"Then I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn." Jean facepalmed at this.

"You forgot to attack!" Jean cried.

"Oopsie!" Ami laughed. "It's okay, maybe next turn."

"Finally!" Rex declared as he drew the card he needed. "I'll play Raigeki Break, allowing me to discard one card to destroy your Dark Magician!" A hand appeared out of the trap card, spewing thunder that struck the magician, destroying it. "I'll switch Weevil's Girochin to attack mode and have it attack Sonic Bird!" The bug's pincers came down upon the avian, squishing it. Jean placed a Ritual Card in her hand.

"Risky move Rex. One that only served to secure my victory." Jean laughed as she played Monster Reborn, bringing back Dark Magician.

"That pesky magician again?" Weevil exclaimed.

"I'm not done yet." Jean said. "I'll play Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing Dark Magician to summon Black Luster Soldier!" The magician transformed into the soldier, who pointed his sword right at Weevil as if to say 'you'll be my first victim.'

"But that card belongs to…"

"The victor of the Luster Tournament. I'm surprised you two didn't recognize me from the get-go. And let me tell you both something. If Ami didn't need the experience, I would have dueled the two of you alone at the same time, and I would have won within five turns." She explained, spreading her hand to display the number five so as to get her message across. "Now Black Luster Soldier attack his Girochin Kuwagata!" The soldier's blade ran through the insect, and Weevil's life points took a huge hit.

Weevil: 1500 200

"Your turn now, bug-boy." She said. "Not that it'll do much good. Next turn we win. I can feel it."

Weevil said nothing and drew his card.

"I'll sacrifice my two man eater bugs to summon Insect Princess! Then I'll activate my trap card, Pineapple Blast! This makes it so that we have the same number of monsters on the field, and since I only have one, your Soldier is destroyed!" The cannon shot forth, shooting her soldier down. She was taken aback for a second, but did not show it.

"Nice move, but it doesn't assure your victory. Ami, why don't you win the duel for us?" She suggested.

"My pleasure." Ami said, drawing her card. "First I'll switch Unforgiving Maiden to attack mode. Then I'll play Sword and Shield, swapping attack and defense points for all monsters. Now attack Weevil's Insect Princess!"

Weevil: 200 0

The holograms all disappeared, leaving just a shocked Weevil and Rex to wonder how they had just lost.

"Next time, make sure you have stronger monsters. It's no fun being the only one with a powerhouse." Jean told them. "Oh, and come with us. We won fair and square and now I believe you owe us."

Jean had them tell the tournament officials how Ami beat them both single-handedly. It was a lie, but the only way a total rookie like Ami would be able to enter. They swore revenge and dashed out of sight.

Jean then registered herself.

"Ms. Wheeler? We've been instructed to give you this card as a show of faith from Mr. Kaiba. He wants to thank you for taking care of his daughter." An official handed her a very strange card. She knew it wasn't from Kaiba right away. But she didn't let anyone see this.

"This is-" She didn't finish that statement. No doubt she would be using this card in the tournament. "Thanks. I guess Kaiba has a favorite for his tournament after all."

"That he does. He saw your match against Jaden Yuki and was very impressed." The official then went to get a new duel disk for her as well.

"I don't need it. I've got a perfectly good one right here." She told him.

"If you say so."

"Aren't you done yet?" Ami exclaimed, bouncing like a basketball.

"Yeah."

"Say," Ami asked as they walked home. "Why didn't you go to the Duelist Academy? You definitely have the skill. You'd probably be put in Ra Yellow even. I hear they eat like rich kids there! And their rooms are as big as the entire Slypher Red complex."

"I didn't join because I knew I wouldn't learn anything there. My teacher agreed." Jean said simply. "Besides, don't you live like you're rich because you are rich, Ms Kaiba?"

"Don't tease me, or I'll never let you come over." She winked and laughed.

"Speaking of which, it's time to part ways." Jean said, and it was true. Ami lived the opposite way form Jean.

"I'll see you tomorrow then! Thanks for holding back in the duel today, it really helped me! It must have been really hard for you." Ami waved goodbye.

"No problem." Jean said as she waved back. Once she was out of sight, she took out the card she had been given. This was troublesome. If this card made a return then that meant something really bad was going to happen during this tournament.

The card was the Magician of Dark Magic. When the Pharoah went to the afterlife, he took the Millenium Items, the Three Egyptian God Cards, and a few other cards deemed too powerful with him. This was one of them. If this one was unsealed, then that meant…

"Someone robbed Atem's grave." She said aloud. "This is very bad."


	3. Chapter 3

"You're going to Egypt?" Daniel and Ami asked, both of them confused.

"Yes. I have to."

"And you aren't going to tell us why?"

"I can't. It doesn't concern you guys." Jean didn't want to get the two of them involved in matters that could only end up culminating with one of them getting hurt. Ami looked about to argue more, but Jean interrupted by lifting her palm.

"I'm not going to argue with you about this. I'm going and you're staying."

"Just tell us and we'll let you go no more questions asked." Ami pleaded. She looked about to cry so Jean caved.

"I'm going to get a rare card from someone." She said. It wasn't entirely the truth, but it was part of the reason she was going there.

"Okay. Well have fun then!" Ami enveloped Jean in a hug and began to sob.

"Hey hey… I'll only be gone for a week at most. I'll be back before the tournament starts!" She patted the hopeless girl on the back. It wasn't like Jean disliked this kind of attention; it was just that she liked to be warned first. When Ami finally let go, Jean turned to Daniel.

"There's something I want you to do for me. Only you can do it." She told him. She whispered it in his ear.

"I can do that. Sensei will be glad to hear that." Daniel nodded.

"He's your sensei, not mine. And thank you." She smiled before picking up her bags and departing. They waved as she got into her taxi and it drove off into the distance.

On the flight, she went through her deck countless times not making revisions but making new strategies and combinations. Her strongest monster was Black Luster Soldier, but was that enough for this tournament? There were stronger monsters out there.

And the Sorcerer of Dark Magic card meant that she had to have two Dark Magician cards, which wasn't a problem as she had 3, but summoning them would be.

Just like that the twelve and a half hour flight passed, without her coming up with anything. This was bad, if her opponent ended up summoning a really strong monster there would be nothing she could do. Kuriboh could buy her one turn, but it wasn't a permanent fix in those kinds of situations. Maybe Shadow Spell. Waboku maybe. But those were all defensive.

When Jean reactivated her phone upon arriving at her hotel, she received a text that had the address . It was a text document of the new rules that were to be used in the upcoming tournament. A lot of it was the standard affair but a few caught her eye.

"The deck limit for this tournament is 40 cards." This she was fine with. She and most others used a 40-card deck anyway.

"…8000 Life Points…" Also fine. But the last new rule made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Fusion Monsters may now be summoned without the use of Polymerization or other Fusion cards to account for smaller decks. As long as you have both material monsters and the Fusion monster card, you may Fusion summon. Fusion monster still may not attack in the same turn they are Fusion summoned."

Crap. This was what she was afraid of. That meant that her opponents could summon powerful monsters with ease. Hopefully her master could remedy this situation. She Shut the light and let her dreams go awry with nightmares of losing duel after duel and getting her favorite monsters taken away from her.

She wrapped herself up in a ball, hugging her knees, and wept in her fear, feeling lost for the first time. And fire, there was fire everywhere surrounding her.

But someone else was there. It was Marik Ishtar. With a wave of his arm he snuffed out those flames. He held out a hand and helped her to her feet. He changed shape after that, taking on the form of the Black Luster Soldier. The Dark Magician appeared next to him. The two of them each held twenty cards that they handed to her, making her deck whole again.

"Thank you." She told them. Both of them nodded before departing deeper into her dreams. She woke up then and it was morning. A shower later and she was ready to meet her master.

"You were right in seeking me." Marik told her. "Your suspicions are correct. Pharaoh Atem's grave has indeed been robbed. However, the God cards and the Millennium Items were left untouched, probably because their powers were stripped and now they are just blank paper and metal."

"So they took other cards. Like the Sorcerer of Dark Magic. What are the rest of them?"

"Blue Eyes Shining Dragon was one and there are four others. Forbidden cards that nobody even knew Pegasus made. He deemed them too powerful. Not as strong as the three God cards, mind you, but dangerously close."

"What are these cards?" Jean asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Three Fusion cards of ultimate power. The first had actually been used before by Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba. It was the Dragon Master Knight. This is one reason why Atem deemed them too strong. Would you like to hear of the other three?" Jean urged him to go on. "The next card is the Master Swordsman Knight, the Fusion of Flame Swordsman and Black Luster Soldier. Its strength fell short of the Dragon Master Knight's, but it made up for it in its effect. The next card Ishizu actually managed to recover for me." He took out a dark card and handed it to Jean. "Use it. You will need it if you are to recover the others. The three Master Knight cards must be returned."

The card was just so powerful, and she did indeed have the means to play it. And she was just yearning for a stronger monster too. Fate has a hand in everything, doesn't it?

"What of the last card?" She asked, suspecting something.

"That last one will be the most trouble. It's possibly the most powerful monster card in Duel Monsters. Pegasus actually never finished working on it before he passed. Someone must intend to complete the card and use it in the tournament."

"I'll need a little more info than that, Marik."

"I'm sorry but since it's never been played before nobody knows what it does, not even me. But the most terrifying thing is that the card is a blank slate. The ATK and DEF points are set in stone, but the effect could be anything. I can tell you the card's name. It's Judge, The Great Equalizer. The strongest Ritual Monster card. It's not that far of a leap to assume that whoever took the cards also has the Ritual needed to summon him."

"One last question then. Who took the cards?"

"I don't know. I'd be able to tell if I still had my Millennium Rod, but that is long since gone. What I do know is that a lot of his lackeys are old Rare Hunter minions of mine. That means that whoever he is, he's going to have a deck of the most powerful monster cards on the planet. I don't envy you, having to go up against such a foe."

"I probably won't see him until the Semi-finals. A duelist like that who searches for power won't duel someone like me until the time is right. No, he'll wait until that Judge card is finished and then try to take me on."

"Why would he do that? If he has the other cards it'll be easy to overthrow you, even with that one."

"Someone like him, who is cowardly, will wait until the last minute to show his face. I wouldn't be surprised if he does the whole 'mysterious nameless duelist thing' and ends up being the bad guy. It's predictable. Either way, I'm not worried."

"I wish I could be as carefree as you. I think you're underestimating your opponent. It doesn't matter, as you say he probably won't show himself until late in the game." Jean turned to leave but Marik stopped her.

"I see you have a few new cards. Care to take my test again?" He smiled and Jean nodded. She liked his little quizzes. They always seemed to focus her strategies to be as sharp as a blade.

"Who is your strongest monster?"

"Sorcerer of Dark Magic.

"The most fearsome?"

"Black Luster Soldier."

"The best Stratagem?"

"Graceful Charity."

"I see. Your answers are quite different from last time."

"My deck is quite different from last time as well." She patted the case attached to her belt containing her cards.

"I can tell. You've gotten a lot stronger, my apprentice. I think it's time you were set free."

"Master Marik?"

"I'm your Master no longer. You have surpassed me in every way. That isn't to say that you don't have much to learn, because the pursuit of knowledge is eternal." He smiled.

"Easy there Heidegger. You almost sounded like a wise old man." Jean teased.

"Maybe I am an old man at heart. I wish I could help you more, Jean, but I have to stay here. My duty is never done." That was the first time since they met that he called her by her name and not 'apprentice.' She enveloped him in a surprise hug, the kind she disliked getting from Ami.

"I'll miss you, Marik." She told him.

"And I you, young one."

After visiting Ishizu and the others for the rest of the week and another long plane ride home, Jean was finally able to think clearly. The tournament began in three days. What kinds of opponents would she face? What new cards?

And aside from that, how will a victor be determined? In Duelist Kingdom they used Star Chips, and in Battle City they used some kind of map card thing. What would determine who moves on and who stays behind in this one?

The Luster Tournament was a small, local one that just happened to be sponsored by Yugi Mutou. This was a full-blown international free for all organized by Kaiba Corp. And Seto was known for going all out. Jean sighed and guessed that she would have to wait and see. But she couldn't help but shake in anticipation.

And as for this new card. She couldn't wait to play it. But after all, she thought it better to not have it in her deck until the semi-finals. It would be her surprise trump card, much like the Black Luster Soldier was in her duel against Byron.

"Oi." Daniel poked her. She jumped, not realizing that she had been staring off into space during class. Luckily the teacher didn't notice. Daniel certainly did though.

"What." She shot him a disapproving look. He seemed to shrink down.

"Sensei did what you asked. I've got the card right here." He showed her the card she had asked Joey to give him. The Flame Swordsman.

"Keep it safe. And I'm not just kidding. Terrible people are after that card and you're the only one who can protect it."

"Wouldn't it be better off in Sensei's hands? He's a much better duelist than I am."

"No. Only you can do this. You have that safe that emulates the Puzzle box Yugi used to have. There's no safer place in the world than in that box."

"I see. Well, I've gotta go home and change for work. I'll see you tomorrow!" He said, saluting her and trudging off into the halls at full speed.

"Yeah." Jean nodded, preparing to go home herself. "See you."

That's one card taken care of. But who knows how many other Flame Swordsman cards there are. She didn't worry about the Dragon Master Knight, since all three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards were in Seto Kaiba's possession. And as for the third card, there was no way anyone else could summon it besides Jean. There were only so many of the required cards.

Ami grabbed Jean by the wrist and pulled her into the hallway at record speed.

"Are you trying to dislocate my shoulder? Let go of me!" She pleaded. Ami looked terrible. Her hair was a mess and she was not even wearing make-up. Her shoes didn't match either.

"It's my uncle! His cards were stolen!" She exclaimed for the whole building to hear.

"Kaiba? Which cards?"

"His Blue Eyes! I don't know how they managed to get past all that security but they did it and now his three favorite cards are gone! He's furious and is even thinking about pulling the plug on the tournament until the thief comes forward and returns them!"

"That won't accomplish anything. Can I talk to him?"

"Sure. I have his number." She said, handing Jean her cell. She had him in her contacts, along with a few other famous names. Jean was a tad bit jealous, but said nothing and dialed the number. She was nervous about this, but it had to be done. She just hoped Kaiba had softened up since the old stories Joey told about him.

"Yes? Who is this?" An angry-sounding Seto answered.

"Mr. Kaiba I presume. I'm a friend of your niece, Ami. I have an idea to get your Blue Eyes back." She told him of her little plan, and heard a long silence on the other end.

"What makes you so sure the thief is a tournament contestant?" Kaiba asked.

"If they took Ultimate Dragon as well, than that's all the evidence you need. They know of Dragon Master Knight, and they know that the tournament will be the most likely place for it to appear." Jean explained.

"The Pharaoh took that card with him." She explained to Kaiba about the three Master Knight cards and about Atem's robbery. She specifically left out the part about Judge, simply because it was information she felt Kaiba did not need to know.

"This is very troublesome. Alright, I'll give your plan a shot, simply because I don't see another way. But tell me one thing… how do you know all this about Atem? Very few people are supposed to know about him."

"My name might give you a clue. I'm Jean Wheeler, Serenity's daughter. Joey is my uncle. But I'm glad to see that you're a lot nicer than the stories he used to tell about you." Jean smiled.

"I hope you're not half the amateur your uncle was. But one look at your previous duels tells me you're in fact quite the young prodigy. I look forward to dueling you." Kaiba hung up with that. Jean handed Ami her phone.

"It'll be okay. You don't need to fret anymore."

"I'm not fretting. Who's fretting? Not me that's who? I'm Ms. Not-fret! Look at me! Not fretting!" She said without breathing.

"Calm down. It's okay. Your uncle will get his cards back, I promise. Also, be sure to keep an eye on Duel Monsters-related news, because he'll have an announcement pretty soon."

"What kind of announcement?" Ami asked, finally calming down.

"That's a surprise!" She winked, and made her way down the hall. Ami followed her out of sight.

Someone laughed to himself on the other side of the door they had been talking near.

"What interesting information that girl just gave me. I'll be sure to pass it along to my boss." He muttered to himself before shoving his hands in his pockets and disappearing.


	4. Chapter 4

The text message was sent out to all participants to meet in Central Park for an announcement from Kaiba himself. The message also stated that no duels are allowed until the start of the tournament tomorrow, and any who are dueling would be disqualified. Jean brought her two shadows, Ami and Daniel with her. Hundreds of duelists were gathered, all eager for duel one another and all biting their teeth.

"What do you think the announcement is going to be?" Daniel asked.

"I have a good idea." Jean said, her arms crossed, or at least as much as she could with the duel disk on her arm. "But let's have Kaiba let the cat out of the bag."

There was a sudden hush amongst the duelists and all of them seemed to be looking in the same direction. A giant LCD monitor was rising from the ground. It flickered on and the image of Kaiba appeared on it. He was a lot rougher looking than Joey had described, but looked to be the same Kaiba. He had five o'clock shadow and bags under his eyes.

"Hello Duelist and Champion-hopefuls. I'm sure many of you are curious to my special announcement. But that can wait a minute. I'm positive that news of my robbery has reached your eyes by now. Allow me to confirm your suspicions and say that my Blue Eyes were indeed taken from me. But let me also say that I don't need my Blue Eyes to win duels and to the thief let me say that I will find you, I will get my Blue Eyes back and you will be reprimanded to the fullest extent possible." He made a look at the camera that made even Jean shudder. It was like the hundreds of duelists all shrunk back at once. He definitely had a domineering personality.

"Now," He continued, "On to the announcement. I will be competing in the tournament as the guaranteed 16th spot. This means one less place for all of you. Those of you who think you stand a better chance at beating the renowned Seto Kaiba just because he lost his Blue Eyes are in for a big surprise. And one more thing… The person who beats me in the tournament will win every card I own. That's all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tournament to finalize preparation for." Kaiba concluded. Just before the monitor turned off, he seemed to look Jean's way. She gave him a competitive smile, which he surprisingly returned. The screen changed to black.

"Was this the plan you suggested to him the other day?" Ami asked. Jean nodded.

"This will encourage the thief to enter the tournament if he hasn't already, to take the rest of Kaiba's rare cards. Kaiba owns the company that makes Duel Monsters, Industrial Illusions. He'd have the rarest cards in the world, and maybe some that weren't even released to the public. Also, if the thief's the kind of person I think he is, it would be the cherry on top to beat Kaiba with his own Blue Eyes. It's a trap though, as Blue Eyes is far from Kaiba's only strong monster." Jean explained further. She stretched her arms behind her head and yawned.

"Something tells me you'd be good at chess." Ami suggested.

"I can beat National Champions." Jean replied. "Easily, in fact. Maybe I should try International. My game is and always has been Duel Monsters, though. Chess doesn't have enough of a luck factor to suite my fancy."

"Well since we're out why don't we go see a movie or something?" Daniel suggested.

"Sounds like a good way to waste time." Ami said. It was, and after the movie they parted ways. The night was over quickly and Jean had her Duel Disk and deck prepared for the day. This was it. The Tournament had arrived.

After hygiene, she made a beeline for Central Park. She figured an open area like that would be a great place for duelists to find her, and for her to find duelists. Her phone vibrated. It was another text from Kaiba Corp, containing more rules.

"Contestants are eliminated after losing two duels, or in the case of a draw best of three. In the case of a tie for all three, the drawing game will be played, in which both players will draw from their decks until they get a monster card, and the player that draws the monster with the highest ATK wins overall. This only applies until the 15 semi-finalists are chosen. Once you have lost your second duel, a virus will temporarily be implanted in your duel disk, preventing it from activating for as long as the tournament is still ongoing. Once the tournament is over, the virus will be removed and your Duel Disks will usable once again. The previous iterations of rules are still in effect. Enjoy yourself, duelists, and keep it clean out there!"

She got another text, this one from a blocked number.

"I hope this plan of yours works." That was probably Kaiba. She gave him a reply.

"Don't worry. If you lose I'll just win your cards back in the Finals. =P" He didn't reply after that. She tucked her phone into her pocket and sat down at the nearest bench. Ultimately, searching for a worthy opponent would be like picking hay out of a needle stack. And there is no hay. So it would only leave her disappointed.

Duelist after duelist challenged her and she beat them without even standing up, usually within the first five turns. There was one duelist who was surprising in his arrogance, and she gave him the proper amount of attention. His name was Neal, and he was around Jean's age. He had long green hair and wore a stylish blue jacket with chains dangling from it. His pants looked unbelievably tight.

"I challenge you to a duel!" He declared while pointing at Jean.

"You can't be serious. A weakling like you?" She didn't mean to be arrogant towards him, but there was something about the kid that irked her.

"Are you scared? I don't know who you are but nobody shirks a challenge from Neal Dunn." He grinned. "Although seeing how old your Duel Disk is you probably can't afford any good cards, so you probably won't be much of a challenge to me anyway."

"Fine." Jean said simply as she rose to her feet. She placed her deck into the Duel Disk and activated it. "Let's Duel!"

Jean: 8000 Neal: 8000

"I'll let you go first, so let me see what you've got." She covered her mouth with her hand as she let out a huge yawn. It wasn't on purpose but it was excellent timing.

"How about this?" He said as he placed 1 card facedown and summoned his first monster. It was Zombyra the Dark. Not a bad first monster. He had a huge attack value for being a four star monster. That effect was why though. Every time he destroys a monster his attack gets decreased by 200.

Jean wiped her eyes and drew her card. Dark Magician. Now she just had to get enough stars on the field to be able to summon him. But for now she had to play something. So she summoned Senju of a Thousand Hands in defense mode. This allowed her to move Black Luster Ritual to her hand.

"You need a wake-up call, so how about a natural disaster?" Jean asked. "I'll play Convulsion of Nature, flipping both of our decks upside down!" She flipped her deck, and Neal did the same.

"That only helps me. Now I can see what card comes next." Neal told her. It was true.

"I'll lay two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Just because I'm pretty doesn't mean I'm dumb you know. Those are traps, and I won't stand for any nasty trap cards in my duels." He said while waving a finger back and forth in the most demeaning fashion possible.

"Whatever. Take your turn." She contemplated sitting back down on the bench but thought better of it. She didn't want to make Mr. Headstrong any angrier would she? He drew his card.

"I'll play Nobleman of Extermination, allowing me to remove one facedown card on the field from play, so long as it's a trap. I'll choose the card on the left!" That card was Hidden Book of Spell. Crap. It was removed from play, which just meant that Jean shoved it into her wristband. That was just a decoy trap though. She was lucky that he didn't choose the right card.

"I'll play one monster facedown and have my Zombyra attack your Senju!" The freaky dancing demon charged at the million-handed statue, but chains poured forth from an activated card and stopped him dead in his tracks.

"I activated my Shadow Spell, rendering your Zombyra unable to attack and decreasing his attack points by 700!" Jean declared. "Looks like your 50/50 gamble back there turned out not to be lucrative, Mr. Prince. Nice try though." He grimaced at this taunting and commanded that Jean take her turn.

"I'll sacrifice my Senju to summon Magical Marionette! Attack his Zombyra!" Senju shattered into nothing, and the Marionette formed from that nothing. His sword penetrated Zombyra, sending him to the Graveyard.

Neal: 8000 7400

"Your turn, my liege." She bowed in a sarcastic manner. This got a few laughs from the forming crowd. The screen that once showed a giant Kaiba head now displayed their duel. Good. That meant that Kaiba was taking a keen interest in her.

"Don't you dare make fun of me!" He barked. "I'll flip summon my Dummy Golem activating its effect! With this, the Golem is switched with a monster of your choice from your field, but since all you have is your Marionette, he becomes mine. Now attack the Dummy Golem!"

Her own Marionette used its blades against Jean, tearing the Golem to clay pieces. Luckily he was in defense mode so Jean didn't suffer any Life Point damage.

"I'll lay a monster facedown and end my turn." Neal concluded. "Top that, peasant."

Jean drew her card.

"No problem." She said, still becoming increasingly drowsy and irritated from this kid's attitude. He was so boring; just another arrogant duelist without the cards or strategy to back that talk up. "I'll summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky!" This card may not be intimidating on its own, but with the next two cards, it'll be nice fodder at least. "Then I'll play Change of Heart, stealing back my Marionette! But that's not all…" The marionette returned to Jean's side of the field. "Want to see one of the strongest cards in Duel Monsters? Of course you do. I'll play Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing my Kid and Marionette to summon Black Luster Soldier!" The warrior burst forth, unsheathing his sword and shield bashing the air. He looked very menacing. Jean smirked a bit.

"Now you two play nice." She teased. "Now destroy that facedown monster!" The soldier nodded and ran his blade through the card. It was Ceremonial Bell, nothing to be worried about.

"I'll summon Gale Lizard in defense mode." Neal said once it was his turn. He started chewing on his lip. It was a disgusting and surprising habit for a prince-type.

"Is that all? I'm disappointed." Jean taunted.

"This duel is only getting started!" He said, glaring at the top card in his deck. Jean deduced that it must be something good. Maybe an equip card to make a monster stronger than her Soldier. Jean took her turn.

"I'll play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two!" She got rid of two trap cards. From Neal's speech earlier, he probably has a lot of counter-trap strategies in his deck. It was better to circumvent that to avoid trouble. But the third card was a monster, and she summoned it.

"I summon Dancing Fairy in defense mode! As long as this card is in defense position I get a thousand Life Points on my turn!" She smirked. "Then I'll have my Black Luster Soldier destroy your Lizard!" The poor dinosaur didn't even see it coming. The warrior's blade ran right through it, cleaving it in half.

"My turn!" Neal declared. "I'll summon Gren Maju Da Eiza!" The fiend burst forth from the card and coiled around itself like a snake.

"But its attack is zero! What a weak monster." Jean scoffed.

"Don't write it off just yet! Remember that I still have that facedown card!" He was right. He placed that card on the first turn. She wondered what it was, but guessed that now was when she would find out. "I activate Fiend Comedian! This card lets me flip a coin and if I call it, your entire graveyard is removed from play. If I get it wrong, I have to remove the same number of cards that are in your graveyard from the top of my deck." He pressed a button on his fancy Duel Disk and a hologram of a 100 Yen coin appeared on the field. "I call heads!" He announced as the coin flipped. It landed on tails.

"Yes!" He cheered. Nine cards were removed from play. He placed them in a slot in his Duel Disk that Jean did not have. She looked at her busted old Disk, and was not jealous in the least. This one was a gift, and she would use it until it literally would not work anymore, even after being repaired time and time again.

Gren Maju Da Eiza's attack value became 4500. That wasn't good.

"I'll attack your fairy to stop those pesky Life Point increases. No need for you to struggle so inelegantly when your wings have been clipped, my beautiful butterfly." His terrible attempt at being poetic sickened her as the beast wrapped itself around her fairy and crushed it out of existence. "Now I'll equip him with Shooting Star Bow- Ceal. This will decrease his attack by 1000, but allow him to attack your Life Points directly! I'll save that for next turn. No need to frazzle you this early on in the duel." He shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"I'll summon Roulette Barrel and activate its effect! If I roll a three, your Gren Maju is destroyed!" She pulled a die out of her pocket and threw it onto the holographic field. It bounced once, bounced twice, and landed on just what Jean needed to snag a huge win. She rolled a three.

"While I'm enthused that you came prepared, how do I know that die isn't weighted or something?"

"You can trust me, can't you? I'm too poor to afford something like a weighted die." Jean said, hiding her sarcasm as much as possible. She actually wanted this three to stick.

"I guess that is true. Very well. My friend is destroyed." He said with a sigh as he moved the monster card to the graveyard. "But now it's my turn."

"I'll play Soul Release, removing 5 cards from my graveyard from play." He moved five cards from his graveyard to that fancy extra slot in his Disk. "Next, I'll lay 1 card facedown and summon Red Eyes Black Chick in defense mode." An egg was summoned from the sideways card, and from it burst forth a baby dragon. Cute.

"Now, I'll play Monster Reborn! Why don't you come back to the field, Gren Maju Da Eiza!" He declared. The serpent fiend returned. But this time, his attack was a staggering 6000. This was bad. Wait. Was this his strategy all along? To remove as many of his own cards as possible?

"Kick his Prince butt, Jean!" Ami cried from somewhere in the crowd. Jean smiled at the sound of that unnecessarily loud voice. It made her smile, even as her Roulette Barrel was smashed to bits. So that was why he let her get away with that three. He had Monster Reborn anyway so it didn't matter. Sneaky.

"Your move, girl." He said, and flipped his hair a bit. Some airhead girls in the crowd swooned a bit. Jean was unimpressed.

"Better to play defensive. I'll switch my Soldier to defense mode and lay 2 cards facedown. That'll be all." The soldier lowered his sword in favor of his shield. It seemed like a hopeless situation. The first real duel of the tournament and she was on the verge of losing. She did have a strategy though. Dark Magician was in her hand, and looking at her deck she saw the card that would give her the perfect chance to use him. She would have to hope that her trap card wouldn't be wiped away.

"I'll sacrifice my Chick to summon the real thing! Red Eyes Black Dragon!" The chick was reborn in fire, with the menacing ashen dragon taking its place. "Now Gren Maju, attack-" Jean cut him off.

"I activate Threatening Roar, rendering you unable to attack for this turn." The crowd gasped and applauded. People love a good duel. It was her turn again. Nobody had taken any Life Points damage in a while, but Jean was about to change that.

"I'll play Ultimate Offering, allowing me to make as many extra summons as I want at the cost of 500 Life Points for each one. I'll speed this up and pay 1500 up front."

Jean: 8000 6500

"Try to keep up, weakling, because I'm going to crush you with this combo." She was angry now. And she was sick of this guy. She was going to destroy his spirit and make him never want to duel again. In other words, she did not like him. "First, I'll summon Trap master and the Forgiving Maiden, then I'll sacrifice the both of them to summon Dark Magician!" The Magician rose from the ashes of his now Martyr-ed brethren. He looked at Black Luster Soldier and Jean could swear they nodded at each other. Maybe it was just her imagination. "Now I'll sacrifice my Soldier to summon a second Dark Magician! How's that? Two strong monster instead of one? But I'm not done yet! I said I'd crush you and I intend to! How about this card? I sacrifice my two Magicians to summon…" The two wizards shattered and dispersed into magical energy that swirled around the field. The mist began to concentrate in one area, and started to become dense. It took shape in the form of a silhouette. "Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" Jean cried as the mist became non-permeable and transformed into the powerful magi. This Magician pointed his staff at his enemy and frowned. Dark Magician had a pretty serious demeanor when he was on the field, but this guy seemed downright angry. Bitter even. It was infectious.

"What? I've never heard of that card before!" He exclaimed. The whole gathering of people surrounding them seemed to all mutter amongst themselves of how genuine her deck was.

"You like it?" She asked. "It's a card that Kaiba only recently added to the game after outcry that there was no strong spellcaster-type cards out there. Consider me a beta tester for it." This was a blatant lie of course, but it the story she and Kaiba agreed upon for it.

"Now where were we? Oh right I was breaking your arrogance."

"He still doesn't have enough attack to take out my monster." Neal stated.

"He does when I equip him with Megamorph, doubling his attack. That makes it 6400. Now my Sorcerer, attack with Black Spiral Flash!" This was something very few people before Jean have been able to do: name a monster's attack. The Sorcerer twirled his staff in his hands, filling it with dark energy. With an upward swing, he released all of that energy at once in a spinning explosion of power that eradicated the fiendish being from the field.

Neal: 7400 7000

"Your turn. Assuming you don't need a change of pants." Jean said. Ami looked upon her friend with fear. Something about her was off. She was being unnecessarily cruel to the guy. Her eyes looked a little darker than normal too. And since when did she wear that cynical-looking smile? Whatever was going on, Ami didn't like it.

"I'll lay these two cards facedown and end my turn." He said simply. He looked downtrodden, defeated. He looked like he had given up already. He forgot to switch his Red Eyes to defense mode to avoid damage, the amateur.

"Is that all? I expected more from you, rich boy. Maybe if you weren't coddled your whole life you'd actually know how to play Duel Monsters!" She yelled. Neal looked about to cry. Ami did it for him.

"Stop it!" She shouted. Jean looked at her and realized what she had been saying. This wasn't her. No, something was influencing her mind. What was it? She closed her eyes and took a breath. The source of the corruption… was coming from her side of the field? Her Sorcerer? How could that be?

"These cards were forbidden for a reason." Marik had told her. "You have a very strong spirit, so I'm sure you can handle using them, but even you won't be entirely unaffected by them. Just try your best not to let them influence your behavior.

He was right. She had given in to the corruption too easily during her fits of anger. It wouldn't happen again. This she declared as she looked at Ami's crying face. She gave herself a little shake and concentrated on the duel.

"Attack his Dragon with Black Spiral Flash!" The energy tore the dragon apart scale by scale.

Neal: 7000 3000

"I didn't think I'd have to use it but I'm glad I had it prepared. I'll activate Inferno Tempest! This card can only be activated when I take more than 3000 Life Point damage from one hit and it removes all monsters form both of our decks from play!" The stack of cards in Jean's wrist strap suddenly became a lot thicker.

"For my turn I'll play Swords of Concealing Light! This will force your Sorcerer into facedown defense mode, making his trap-destroying properties not active. Now that I can play Trap cards I'll activate Graverobber's Retribution, making you take 100 Life Point for every monster you have removed from play. That's 600 points every time it's my turn, starting next turn. Your move, little miss prissy." He made that remark on purpose, and Jean knew it. But she let it slide as a way to even the scales. After all, she had just laid into him pretty nastily.

"I'll play Factory of Mass Production, moving two monster cards from my graveyard to my hand. I'll choose Roulette Barrel and Dancing Fairy. Then I'll summon Dancing Fairy in attack mode and have her attack your Life Points directly!" The fairy blew poisonous powder in Neal's direction, and he took a decent hit to his points.

Neal: 3000 1300

"Your turn." She said simply.

Jean: 6500 5900

"I'll play Nobleman of Crossout, removing your Sorcerer from play. Then I'll play D. D. Designator and call out Roulette Barrel, removing that from play as well. The damage toll is now 800 per turn." He seemed to be unsure of victory, and only going through the motions. He was still cocky though. He was probably the type to accuse her of cheating after losing, and throw a fit when he doesn't get the rematch. But Jean didn't care. It was her turn now, and she was going to win right then and there. At least now the Sorcerer's influence was gone.

"I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back one of my Dark Magicians! Attack his Life Points directly! Dark Magic attack!" The magi held forth his palm and released a blast of dark energy, shattering Neal's Life Points and snagging victory for Jean.

Neal: 1300 0

Neal looked sullen. Jean walked up to him and offered him a handshake.

"Hey look, I'm really sorry for being so mean back there. I got carried away. Can you forgive me for that?" She asked. She was being genuine. And he was no fool, so he took that hand and shook it.

"Me too. I was just mad because I didn't want to lose my first duel in the tournament." He admitted.

"Maybe I'll see you in the semi-finals."

"Maybe. See you." Neal took off. Jean counted her blessings that he was a good sport in the end, which surpassed her. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person after all.

Jean then turned to Ami, who enveloped her in a hug. It was different form her usual warm bubbly hug. This time, Ami was crying and shaking.

"Hey," She said, patting the girl on the back, "I wasn't that scary, was I?"

"I wasn't afraid of you, I was afraid of what you might have done. Something about that Sorcerer card and the way you acted when he was out really terrified me. Promise me. Promise me you'll never use him again!" She blubbered.

"I can't. but I can promise that next time I use him, I won't let him influence me. But I'll need you by my side to make me stronger. Is this a fair deal?" She asked. Ami let her go and stared into her eyes with passionate ones of her own.

"I don't like it but okay. I'll stick with you for the rest of the tournament." Ami said with a smile, tears still coming from her eyes.

_If that was just the Sorcerer, _Jean thought to herself, _then what will _that_ card do to me? I don't know if I can bear hurting Ami like this again._

But she would use the Sorcerer again. And that other card. But… she would lose both of them, and she would lose everything else along with it.


	5. Chapter 5

After her behavior during the duel against Neal, nobody in their right mind wanted to duel Jean. Most duelists were now terrified of her. Well, this would allow her to sleepwalk into the semi-finals, but she didn't like the looks people were giving her. They ran away, which was also deterring potential challengers for Ami to gain experience. If Ami went up against someone on Neal's level, or worse her own level, she would get floored.

But they would not separate. In the event that Jean would get sucked into a duel she would need Ami's support to resist the Sorcerer's dark influence. And Jean wanted to be there for Ami. This is what is known as friendship.

So they waited it out. It would probably be a while until the semi-finalists emerged from the hundreds that were currently dueling. They sat on a park bench watching cars go by and talking about Duel monsters. A few matches were going on around them, but nobody matched the level of skill that Jean had demonstrated thus far. In fact, when she her gaze lingered on them for too long and they took notice, she saw them visibly shudder.

_So this is what being feared is like… _She thought. _I kind of like it… but at the same time it scares me. I know that if I embrace this feeling that I'll just end up alone. I don't want that. _

She looked next to her at Ami. Her eyes were still red and irritated from crying. She never wanted to make that girl cry again. It killed her inside to see those beautiful sparkling discs tainted with emotions like that. So she vowed, for her friend, to resist the darkness the best she could.

"Jean? Are you there? Helloooo!" She was waving a hand in front of Jean's face to get her attention.

"What is it?" Jean asked.

"Geez, you've been staring off into space for the last fifteen minutes. And here I thought I was learning somethi…." Ami trailed off, leaving her sentence unfinished. She was staring up at the sky with her mouth agape.

It was the sky. In an instant it had gone from sunny to pitch black. Dark clouds swirled and cackled with lightning, threatening the tournament with downpour. The familiar cry that everyone who plays Duel Monsters knows echoed forth, creating tangible wind that blew through the area, rustling and blowing everything back. A few glass windows shattered and their glass rained down upon the streets. Luckily, it looked like nobody was harmed.

Off in the distance, the head of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon poked out from the side of a skyscraper. Two more wrapped around its side, following the lead head. The three-headed dragon stepped forward to reveal the entirety of its body, and to show that there was a lone warrior riding on its back.

This was the Dragon Master Knight, and Jean could feel the same influence emanating from it that she felt from the Sorcerer, only tenfold. She wanted to do… horrible indescribable things. A hand on her shoulder was all she needed to snap out of her trance.

The three head began to charge up an attack at the behest of the rider, and they reigned down destruction upon the unlucky duelist. He wouldn't just be out of the tournament; he'd probably wind up in the hospital. There were stories of holograms doing actual damage during the Battle City Tournament ages ago, but that was just with the God cards. Is it possible that nobody had played a card that powerful since?

The behemoth towered over the city for a moment, letting the puny insects called humans bask in its glory, before becoming holographic bits and dissolving. The sky cleared up just as fast as it had darkened.

"What was that?" Ami asked with panic in her voice.

"That was our cue. We've got to move and find whoever summoned that." Jean grabbed Ami's arm and ran off towards the direction the Dragon Master Knight had just been. She ran past countless people standing there dumbfounded. It was like they couldn't believe that such a monster existed.

They dashed through gathering crowds, until they came upon a young duelist who was hunched over and in tears.

"Which way did he go?" Jean asked him.

"He… he took my deck… all my cards…" He sobbed. She grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up to eye level.

"Where. Did. He. Go." She said as assertively as possible in one word sentences. He lifted one arm, shaking like a skeleton, pointing in the direction of a back alleyway. Jean continued to hold on to Ami, her grip tightening every second, and took off after the thief.

They found him, going through cards like a drug dealer after a big score counting money. He wore a dark cloak with black chain hanging from it and he seemed to be drooling.

"Hey you! The freak in the robes!" Jean called. "Those cards don't belong to you. Give them back."

"You're Jean Wheeler. I hear you're quite the duelist. My master would love to possess your cards." He licked his lips and reached an arm out at her. He reminded her of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. She slapped aside his hand and repeated her demand, more forcefully this time. He ignored her of course.

"I'll duel you for your cards. If you win I'll give you that kid's cards back. If I win I get your deck." He proposed.

"Fine." She knew the stakes would probably be raised to this, and she knew that he possessed the Dragon Master Knight, and she wasn't afraid. She would probably have to use that new card, but it would be worth it to take this guy down.

The duel began. They both drew their five cards. With the flip of a coin, it was determined that Jean would go first.

Jean: 8000 Rare Hunter: 8000

She immediately got the worst hand she had ever been dealt. A Dark Magician, a few spell and traps that she knew wouldn't help, and a weak monster. She summoned Steel Scorpion in defense mode and set two cards facedown.

"I can't wait to present those cards to my master; he'll be so pleased with me! He might even let me keep one for myself!" He snorted as he drew his card. "And by the way, if you're worried about me summoning Dragon Master Knight, don't. Because it's going to happen no matter what you do. In fact, it's going to happen in just one more turn."

He played Pot of Greed, drawing two cards.

"Try to keep up. First, I'll summon Lord of D. and play Flute of Summoning Dragon, special summoning two dragon-types from my hand to the field! And I summon two Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" The dragon-cloaked summoner played the serpent-shaped flute, and the two silver beasts came forth out of their cards. "Now I'll play these two ritual cards: White Dragon Ritual and Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing my Lord of D. and one Blue-Eyes, respectively!" The Soldier and the Warrior riding the miniature dragon burst forth, each ready to play their part as summon fodder in the larger scheme that was to come.

"Finally, I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back the Blue-Eyes that was sacrificed!" The second Blue-Eyes came back from the dead and let loose its terrifying cry. In one turn, he had summoned five monsters. But instead of attacking, he passed. Probably because he didn't want one of his lynchpins to be destroyed by Jean's scorpion. Either way, it was her turn now. And she had forgotten to activate her trap card. It could have forced the Rare Hunter to discard, foiling his plan. Only she hadn't thought of it. Why had she let it slip her mind? Was it fear? Was she afraid of the Dragon Master Knight and the power it commanded and it caused her to make careless mistakes?

She activated her Enervating Mists, knowing that it was pointless but that she may as well use it.

"Next, I'll activate Pharaoh's Treasure! This lets me put it in my deck face-up, and when I draw it I get to move one spell card from my graveyard to my hand." She put the purple-colored card into her deck and shuffled it.

"I'll lay one card facedown and play my own Monster Reborn, summoning your Lord of D.! Then I'll sacrifice him and my Scorpion to summon Dark Magician!" She knew that her best bet in this duel was to summon that card, and she would need the right combination of cards in order to summon it.

"Now, Dark Magician, attack his Paladin of White Dragon!"

"I activate my Trap Card, Threatening Roar! You can no longer attack this turn." What? When did he put down that Trap Card? Yet another careless mistake. Jean passed.

"I'll activate my Paladin's effect, sacrificing him to summon the third Blue-Eyes from my deck! Now I'll fuse the three of them together to form Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The three beast swirled together and a dazzling light poured forth as they took on a single body with multiple heads. The three-headed monstrosity roars with bestial fury.

"Next turn, I will be ready. And your deck will be mine!" The Rare Hunter declared. He was too sure of himself, and Jean didn't like it. She wouldn't go down without a fight.

For her turn she set 1 card facedown and prepared for the worst.

"Now I'll fuse Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Black Luster Soldier to summon Dragon Master Knight!" The soldier hopped onto the dragon's back and the amalgam was surrounded by a dark aura of power. Jean watched as its attack skyrocketed to 7000 due to its effect.

_500 attack points per dragon-type in the graveyard and field? That's too powerful. No wonder Atem got rid of this card. _Jean thought as she placed another card facedown for her turn. There was nothing else she could do. But those two facedown cards would buy her a few turns at least.

"It's over for you, little girl! Dragon Master Knight, attack her Dark Magician!" The thief ordered.

"Not so fast! I activate my own Threatening Roar! This'll buy me a turn." Jean was sweating. Unless she drew the right card she would lose this duel. Upon drawing her card for the turn, saw that it wouldn't be this turn. She passed.

"Attack her again, my monster!" The Rare Hunter commanded.

"I activate two cards, one a trap and one a quickplay spell! The first is Enchanted Javelin, which will absorb your attack and increase my Life Points by your Dragon Master Knight's attack. That's a mighty 7000 points!"

Jean: 8000 15000

"Next is Monster Recovery, combining my Dark Magician and my hand with my deck, and then drawing cards equal to my hand. That would be 2 cards." Upon drawing, Jean saw that luck was truly not on her side today. She did draw Pharaoh's Treasure, activating its effect. She put Monster Reborn in her hand.

"Your Turn. But know that no matter how much you struggle, your cards _will_ belong to me!" The man wearing the cloak taunted her.

"Like hell I'll let that happen!" Jean spat as she drew her card. "I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back my scorpion! You wouldn't dare attack it and risk destroying your precious monster, would you?" She smiled.

"No need when I can just play Change of Heart, getting it out of my way and attacking your Life Points directly!" The monster's energy beam came crashing down on Jean, who shivered upon feeling it.

"I discard Kuriboh, bringing the damage to zero!" Her Life Points were spared, but that attack still did not agree with her. She rubbed her shoulders a bit in an attempt to shrug off the chills. She stood in awe at the dragon, truly afraid of it. She was as scared of it as she had been in that dream where she had lost all of her cards.

Ami noticed her blanking out and cried out to her friend in an effort to snap her back to reality.

"Wake up! It's your turn!" She cried. Jean shook her head and drew her card. She didn't dare look. If it wasn't something good, she would lose.

She peeked, and it was Senju.

"I summon Senju of a Thousand Hands, activating his effect! Now I can place one Ritual summon card into my hand." She searched her deck for the Black Luster Ritual, and after placing it with the other card in her hand, she shuffled her deck. This was all she could do for now. But the duel wasn't over yet.

"MY turn." The thief had a disgusting smirk on his face. "I'll play Card Destruction, making us both have to discard our hands!" That last sentence seemed to be spoken in slow motion as Jean stared at her one last hope. She swore and bit her lip as she reluctantly shoved the card into her graveyard. But at least she got to draw a card. She drew Shadow Spell, which might have actually helped her out, had her opponent not played a second Card Destruction.

"Now, Dragon Master Knight destroy her Senju!" The thunderous attack came down upon Jean's monster, wiping it off the face of the planet. "I'll play one card facedown and end my turn."

Jean drew Pixie Knight. It would do for now. She summoned it and immediately wished she hadn't.

"I'll activate Trap Hole! Since your Pixie Knight has an attack value of over a thousand, it gets destroyed!" The Rare Hunter laughed as Jean's only defense was her scorpion.

"Now I'll summon my Command Knight and have him attack your scorpion!" The female warrior came forth and drove her blade through the arachnid's metal hull, cleaving it evenly in two. This left Jean wide open.

"Dragon Master Knight, attack her Life Points directly! Make her tremble at your power!" The dragon's triple energy beam ploughed through Jean, ripping her apart from the inside out. It felt like the attack split the world open and cast her into the molten center. And then she snapped out of it and was on her knees drenched with sweat.

Jean: 15000 8000

She would not be able to take another one of those attacks. She would break. She could barely touch her two fingers together in order to draw her card. They were shaking terribly. Somehow she managed it, and also managed to place two cards facedown for her turn.

"Command Knight, attack!" Her opponent ordered. She activated Waboku, negating all attacks.

"A useless motion! Right now you are a bait worm, struggling futilely with a hook pierced through you! Your demise is certain!" He ranted and raved but Jean would hear none of it as she drew her card.

"I'll summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky in defense mode and activate Just Desserts, decreasing your Life Points by 1000!" His Life Points did indeed fall, but that cynical smile did not dissipate. Jean should be able to withstand his attacks and come out with a thousand Life Points, and then she'd play Dark Snake Syndrome. Maybe that would give her enough of a push to achieve victory.

Rare Hunter: 8000 7000

"This is it! Command Knight, attack her Absorbing Kid!" The Knight plunged her sword in the child's belly, and stabbed again through his neck. She then stepped back and took her place next to her master.

"Now, I'll equip my Dragon Master Knight with Axe of Despair, increasing its attack by 1000, bringing it to a grand total of 8000!" He grinned and laughed with the intensity of a child upon seeing hoards of Christmas presents under the tree in the morning.

"Attack her Life Points directly!" The attack came, and every ounce of Jean's body went numb.

Jean: 8000 0

She… lost? There was a ringing in her ears, and her vision was darkening. She was forced to her knees again. Her cards spilled out of her duel disk and scattered on the ground around her. She heard Ami's crying voice, but it was muffled and sounded like it was very far away. The thief walked up to her, but she didn't react. He bent down and grabbed her by her hair, lifting her head so that she would look him in the eye. She recognized his face from somewhere, but with her senses all out of whack she couldn't tell where. He said something, but Jean did not hear him. He began to gather up her cards, when he stopped. Someone was talking to him, grabbing his attention with a unique offer.

"Double or nothing! I'll duel you for her deck and the kid's!" Ami declared.

"Hrrrm." The Rare Hunter seriously contemplated this for a minute. "It would be lucrative to obtain three decks in one day. I accept."

Ami pulled Jean over to the wall and leaned her against it. Her eyes were blank and her mouth was agape. She wrapped her fingers around Jean's and whispered in her ear.

"I'll win your cards back, so you just rest, okay?" She didn't wait for a response, and instead readied herself for the hardest duel of her life.

"Duel!" They both declared.

Rare Hunter: 8000 Ami: 8000

"I'll go first and summon Gearfried the Iron Knight! After which I'll lay two cards facedown." She concluded her turn with a frown and furrowing her brow. She wanted to broadcast her displeasure with the Rare Hunter, and make him rue the day he messed with Ami Kaiba. This was not the time to hold back. This was not the time to pull any punches. This was when she would live up to her family name and redeem her fallen comrade.

"I'll lay one card facedown and summon Dark Scorpion Burglars in defense mode." He said. He was obviously going to buy time until he could summon the components for Dragon Master Knight. Ami would not allow that.

"I'll set a monster facedown and have my Gearfried attack your Burglars!" The metal warrior shield-bashed the group of robbers into oblivion.

"I'll summon Harpy Lady in defense mode." (Author's Note: It's Harpy Lady 3, but its name is treated a Harpy Lady so there you go.)

"For my turn I'll play a card known as The A. Forces! This card increases the attack points of every Warrior and Spellcaster-type monster on the field by 200 for every Warrior and Spellcaster-type monster, including itself. For now, it increases my Gearfried's attack by 200. Next, I'll flip summon my Armed Ninja. This allows me to destroy a spell card, like the one you have facedown!" The Rare Hunter revealed his facedown card, showing that it was a trap, not a spell card. "Oh well, now that my Ninja is on the field my Gearfried's attack goes up to 2200! Attack his Harpy Lady!" The Knight shoved his shield into the bird-creature's abdomen, sending it flying. It was a shame he was playing so defensively. Ami would love to take his Life Points down so early in the duel.

"I'll play Monster Reborn, reviving my Harpy Lady. And I'll equip her with Axe of Despair, increasing its attack by 1000! Now I'll have her attack your Iron Knight!" The harpy's claws ravaged Gearfried, tearing him into metal strips.

Ami: 8000 7900

"I'll lay 1 card facedown and switch my Ninja to attack mode. Then I'll play Secret Pass to the Treasure, allowing me to attack your Life Points this turn!" The ninja darted past the harpy with lightning speed and shoved a kunai into the thief's heart.

Rare Hunter: 8000 7500

"My turn. I'll play Pot of Greed, drawing two cards." He drew his cards and a wicked smile spread across his cheeks.

"I summon Lord of D. and play Flute of Summoning Dragon. Come forth my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The two glorious dragons and their armor-clad minion came forth, flexing their domineering presence. "Now attack!"

"Now so fast! I still have my trap cards!" She activated the both of them. "First, Waboku, canceling out your attacks for this turn. Then, Just Desserts, making you take 500 per monster you control! That's 2000!" She smiled her own smile as the Rare Hunter's vanished from his face.

Rare Hunter: 7500 5500

"You thought that was bad wait till you see this move! I play Soul Exchange and Change of heart, stealing your Lord of D. and a Blue-Eyes, since controlling Lord of D. removes the immune effect on your dragon monsters! I'll sacrifice them both to summon Dark Magician!" The two monsters were both turn into nothingness, and from that nothingness the Dark Magician took form.

"Not only did I thwart your whole strategy, I used your fodder as my own!" Ami laughed. "Now I'll lay a card facedown and end my turn."

"This duel is only getting started!" The thief cried. "I summon Command Knight in defense mode and have my remaining Blue-Eyes attack your Dark Magician!"

"You activated Dragon Capture Jar, switching all your dragon-type monsters to defense mode. As soon as I heard of Jean's plan I snuck this bad boy into my deck. Now hurry up and finish up your turn." She baited him. She was trying to anger him and make him slip up. And it was working. He only placed 1 card facedown.

"I'll activate Shadow Spell, reducing your Harpy Lady's attack by 700. Then I'll have my Magician attack it!" She commanded. The magi's energy ripped the bird apart.

Rare Hunter: 5500 4400

"I'll just lay another card facedown and end my turn." He said. Ami definitely had him backed into a corner. But you know what they say about cornered animals; they are most dangerous.

"I'll play Ookazi, decreasing your Life Points by 800, and then I'll have my Magician attack your Blue-Eyes!" Ami declared, her eyes burning with passion.

"Wait! I activate Draining Shield!" This increased his Life Points by Dark Magician's attack.

Rare Hunter: 4400: 6500

"My turn now!" He snarled. "I'll play White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing my Command Knight to summon Paladin of White Dragon!" The Knight gave way to summon the dragon rider. "Now I'll play Swords of Revealing Light, preventing your Magician from attacking for three turns!" A million glowing swords poured forth and surrounded Ami's side of the field.

"That card has been a thorn in every Kaiba's side." Ami told him as she drew a card for her turn. "The solution is to summon new monsters outside of its effect! Like Gravekeeper's Curse! And because of its effect you take 500 Life Points from me summoning him!"

Rare Hunter: 6500 6000

"I'll lay 1 card facedown and activate my Paladin's effect, sacrificing him for the third Blue-Eyes!" The beast came forth with a terrible screech. Ami looked over at Jean, who seemed to be in a state of catatonia.

_Hang in there. This'll be over in just a few minutes… _She thought. She had just the card to crush this joker with.

"I'll play Black Illusion Ritual, sacrificing my Gravekeeper's Curse to summon Relinquished!" The creature formed out of the smoke that billowed from the lantern. Tentacles lashed out from its core and wrapped around one of the thief's Blue-Eyes, drawing it closer and stealing it for itself. "Now, I'll equip my Dark Magician with Black Pendant, bringing its attack up to 3400! Attack his Blue-Eyes with Dark Magic Attack!" The dark energy ravaged the monster, shattering its existence.

"I'll activate my trap, Cemetery Bomb! This card makes you take 100 points of damage per card in your graveyard." The Rare Hunter declared.

Ami: 7900 6800

"Now I'll play Card Destruction, allowing me to get a new hand." As they both drew their new hands, Ami taunted him some more.

"Desperate, are we?" She displayed the smuggest smirk she possibly could.

"Now I'll play Change of Heart, stealing your Relinquished, and my Blue-Eyes along with it, and sacrifice them both to summon Black Luster Soldier!" This was all he could do. Ami had him in a deadlock and he knew it. The only thing left to do was whittle her Life Points down.

"I'll play Monster Reborn, bringing back your Blue-Eyes!"

"And I'll activate Trap Hole, destroying it immediately!" He was a sneaky little cockroach that was for sure. The efflorescent blades dissolved, allowing Ami's Magician to attack once more.

It was the Rare Hunter's turn again.

"I'll summon Birdface in defense mode." The bird took form, and folded its wings inwards like a shield. "And that'll be it for now."

"That move will be your end! I equip my Dark Magician with Fairy Meteor Crush, giving him piercing! Now attack!" She commanded. One could feel the fury in her voice, burning like an inferno.

"I activate Spellbinding Circle, disabling your Magician!"

"And I activate Remove Trap, getting rid of your Circle and letting me attack once more! Dark Magic attack!" She commanded. The Magician's magic ripped the avian to shreds.

Rare Hunter: 6000 4400

"My turn." He said, and upon drawing his card he swore under his breath. "I'll play Jar of Greed, drawing a card. Then I'll summon Harpy Lady in defense mode and play Mystical Space Typhoon, getting rid of Fairy Meteor Crush."

"That all? Dark Magician, attack his Black Luster Soldier!"

Rare Hunter: 4400 4200

It seemed that Ami definitely had the upper hand in the duel. If she could hold out for a few more turns she would snag victory. But she wouldn't need to. When the thief tried to draw his next card, he instantly lost. His deck had run out, and he was unable to draw a card. By a technicality, he lost the duel.

"I… lost?" He stood dumbfounded.

"Never underestimate a Kaiba. Now hand over those cards." Ami demanded. The Rare Hunter seemed to sway on his feet a little, looking like he was going to be sick. Without warning, he darted off. He made it not ten feet before bumping into somebody and having that person grab him by the neck and hoist him up to eye level.

"You made a bet and lost. Pay what you owe." This person demanded.

"Never. My master will have these cards!" The thief spat in the unknown man's face, who wiped it off and gave him a disapproving look. He made a fist and plunged it into the cloaked man's hidden face, sending him flying backwards into the wall behind him. He collapsed and stared at his attacker, with eyes open wide in shock. His nose was bleeding. This time Ami got a good look at his face, and at the face of his attacker. The attacker was her uncle, Seto Kaiba. This didn't surprise her. He probably made a program that tracked what cards were played during the tournament and had an alert go out whenever a Blue-Eyes was played. It was inevitable that she would see him. But the absolutely astounding part was that…

The Rare Hunter was Daniel. He handed Kaiba the cards and ran off before Ami could say anything. This must be some kind of trick! What in the world was Daniel doing working for the Rare Hunters?

"Thanks, uncle Seto." Ami said as Kaiba handed her back her deck. He nodded and turned his attention to the fallen Jean, who was still unresponsive.

"A Wheeler acting downtrodden? Your uncle would be saddened by this sight. Get up and quit your melodrama, before I disqualify you from this tournament." He told her, shoving the deck into her hands.

"I… lost… I'm not worthy anymore…" She said, tears spilling out of the corners of her eyes.

"Big deal. Sometimes even the best duelists lose. Hell, I've lost to Yugi more than ten times. But I keep getting better. That's what a rivalry is. That's what Duel Monsters is about. Becoming better so you can have more challenging matches, and more challenge means more fun. Did your uncle never teach you that? What did you think Duel Monsters was about?" Kaiba asked her.

She had never thought about it. She had grown up in Egypt for most of her life, being trained in Duel Monsters, among her other studies. Everything was so secluded, so hypnotizing. But even though it was hard she had a friend in Marik Ishtar, her sensei. He taught her the most important lesson about Duel Monsters. It was about having fun.

"You might just be right. Duel Monsters is about the fun of the game. But that's not all. It's about trust, and about friendship. That's why I won't tolerate any of that during this tournament. And any I do find breaking the rules or using sleazy tactics will have to answer to me. I am Jean Wheeler, and I am the best duelist in the world!" She cried once she got to her feet.

"I don't know about that, but you certainly have the potential for it. I look forward to dueling you in the semi-finals. And Ami," He told her. "I'm proud of you."

Seto seemed to really have grown up. He truly was more mature than when he and Joey were kids. I guess he has Mokuba and Yugi to thank for softening his heart up.

"I will never lose again." Jean vowed. It hurt too much. She knew that eventually she would have to go up against the Dragon Master Knight again, but right now she needed rest. And when that day came, she would be ready with her own Master Knight card.

As for Ami, she didn't know how to tell Jean, and thought it best to keep the Rare Hunter's identity a secret for now. She would find out when she needed to. That, and she didn't want to hurt her friend anymore than she had already been hurt today.

With these thoughts in mind, they smiled at each other, and made their way back to central park, where more dues awaited the two of them.

Meanwhile, a certain Rare Hunter was conversing with a dark man in an old abandoned shack that had long since been burned down. This was the place where Marik had taken control of Bandit Keith and forced him to duel Yugi.

"Master, I was unable to obtain her deck. I'm truly sorry." He knelt as he said this. The dark man moved so that he stood in front of his servant. Daniel flinched, as he was expecting to be struck. Instead, the man placed a cold hand on his shoulder. It felt like a little bit of his life essence was being slowly funneled out through this contact, and it made Daniel feel nauseas.

"Taking her deck was never part of the plan anyway, only the cherry on top. It was fear that I wanted you to place in her, and you accomplished this task very well." He said in his deep, raspy voice. "Although," He removed his hand from Daniel's shoulder. "If you lose again the pain will be much worse."

"What?" Daniel blurted. A finger tapped his forehead, and he felt like he was being boiled from the inside by lava. And then he felt a chewing sensation, like he was being eaten alive by maggots. The pain was unbearable. It hurt worse than anything he had felt in his entire life! And then, it all stopped and he was brought back to reality, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

"Now get out of my sight." The dark man ordered. Daniel complied, and got to his feet. He almost fell over right away, but managed to right himself before taking off.

"The Pharaoh thought it was the Egyptians who invented Duel Monsters, but I know otherwise. At the end of this tournament, all will know the true face of Duel Monsters, and all shall know terror." He said aloud. Indeed, they would all tremble in fear. For this man possessed the last forbidden card.

He was the holder of Judge.


End file.
